The stand-in Indian skipper, Rishabh Pant lauded his players for executing plans with precision during the third T20I of the five-match series in Vizag. On Tuesday, the Indian team managed to stay alive in the series after registering a dominating win by 48 runs over South Africa. ant was a tad dejected after India managed to score 179/5 following a 97-run stand between Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

However, Rishabh Pant praised the bowlers for stepping up and chipping in with crucial wickets at critical stages of the match.

Talking about the game during the post-match presentation ceremony, Rishabh Pant said, “I talked about execution and that’s what we saw today, from both batters and bowlers. We thought we were about 15 short but we weren’t thinking too much about that; the bowlers did a fantastic job.”

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He further added, “Especially in India the spinners play a big role in the middle overs to contain the batsmen. So there is pressure on them to perform, but in such matches when it comes off, this is what happens.”

Yuzvendra Chahal won the Player of the Match award after he picked up three wickets for 20 runs and also grabbed a couple of catches. Harshal Patel also got four crucial scalps. Rishabh Pant, nevertheless, sounded a bit concerned about India’s middle-order, which hasn’t quite fired in the ongoing series.

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Elaborating the same, Rishabh Pant said, “I don’t think it’s a good thing for us (middle-order not performing), but after a good start it’s difficult for new batsmen to go straight away. We will try to improve in the next match.”

The fourth and penultimate match of the series is set to take place on Friday, June 17 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.